Gyanvapi case: A day after the Supreme Court issued an interim order on the ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque, the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday said it will constitute a bench to hear ASI survey case and the verdict is likely on August 28.
Meanwhile, the Muslim side filed a petition in the High Court regarding the order of the ASI survey and the validity of the civil suit, which is likely to be heard by a bench led by Justice Prakash Padia's bench at 12 PM.
Gyanvapi row: Allahabad HC to constitute bench in ASI survey case tomorrow; next hearing on Aug 28
Case regarding validity of civil suit
In its revised petition, the Muslim side has sought quashing of the order of the Varanasi District Judge. According to the information received, the Allahabad Court is set to hear two cases related to the Gyanvapi complex on Tuesday. The first case is regarding the validity of the civil suit in which the Varanasi court had ordered an ASI survey of the Gyanvapi campus in April 2021. Following this, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board and the Gyanvapi mosque management committee, Anjuman Intezamia Masajid had challenged the order of the Varanasi court in the High Court. In November 2022, the Allahabad High Court had reserved the decision on this matter, however, in June 2023, it decided to the matter again on some key points.
Case related to survey of Gyanvapi campus
The second case is related to the survey of the Gyanvapi campus. There are four women litigants in this case. The Supreme Court had asked the Muslim side to approach the High Court for this. The High Court had stayed the ASI survey of the Gyanvapi campus, but after the order of the Varanasi District Judge, the survey was again started on July 25. Following this, the Muslim side filed a revised petition seeking the cancellation of the order of the Varanasi District Judge.
ALSO READ: Gyanvapi case: Supreme Court stops ASI survey for two days, asks to maintain status quo
Caveat filed by Hindu side in Allahabad HC
Meanwhile, a caveat petition in the Gyanvapi case has also been filed by Rakhi Singh, a petitioner from the Hindu side, in the Allahabad High Court. It was filed on the order of the Varanasi Court directing a survey of the sealed area on the mosque complex by the Archaeological Survey of India. The caveat petition was filed through advocate Saurabh Tiwari through the e-filing mode on July 24.
Also the main petitioner in the Shringar Gauri Sthal case, Rakhi Singh also came out in support of the ASI survey at the Gyanvapi mosque complex. In her caveat, Rakhi urged the Allahabad High Court not to give its judgment without hearing the petitioner should the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee approach it challenging the July 21 order of the Varanasi court. "It is therefore, most respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Court may graciously be pleased to allow the application and may provide the opportunity of hearing before passing any order in favour of proposed Petitioner(s)/revisionist(s) and/or pass such other and further order , which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper," the caveat read.
(With ANI inputs)
